My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of: New Jersey
First of all, I'm a good tenant. I pay my rent on time and have a steady, well-paying job. I'm quiet and don't complain much. If I were a landlord, I'd want tenants like me. However, I do value my privacy and my personal property and get really ticked off when this is not respected.
I live in an apartment complex managed by a national company. You'd probably recognize it if I said the name. I've been pretty happy here other than one major issue with maintenance. They frequently wish to enter my apartment at vague times to perform vague unrequested maintenance. Numerous times while I've been living here, they've stuck a notice in my door saying they'll be entering my apartment some time within the next week (or in one case -- the next TWO weeks) to perform some sort of maintenance. This varies from routine HVAC maintenance to front door painting and usually has some catch-all clause like "general maintenance". It's fine for them to perform specific routine maintenance at a few specific times per year but having these week long windows that they want full access is getting ridiculous.
To me, this vague window is an invasion of privacy given that I have no idea if I'm going to walk out of the shower or roll over in bed and see a maintenance guy walking around. It is also extremely inconvenient given that I have a pet (for which I paid a big pet deposit and pay a monthly pet fee) and the notice requires that I lock him up. Even worse, the notice has a disclaimer that they aren't responsible if they damage any of my personal property while in my apartment (without my permission and against my wishes).
So my questions are...
1. For what reasons can the landlord enter my apartment without my explicit request and permission? An emergency like a water heater leak is obviously reasonable but painting the front door seems a bit ridiculous.
2. What does 24 hour notification really mean? How specific must they be about the time and work to be done? It seems to me that it would violate the spirit of the law for them to, for example, give me 24 hour notice that they'll enter my apartment any time they want over the next year for any reason they want. On the other hand, a notice on Monday that they'll be entering between 9am and 11am on Wednesday to inspect the hot water heater is perfectly reasonable. In my case, they are doing something in between so is it legal or not?
3. At what point does the notice terminate if they don't show up? If they tell me they are going to show up within the next week but don't, at which point is it against the law for them to enter?
4. What right do I have to be in attendance when they enter? Their notices specifically say that "appointments" are not available. I work nearby and would have no problem getting back to my apartment in order to be in attendance for whatever maintenance activities they wish to perform at whatever time is convenient for them. I'm flexible but they aren't. What is my legal right here?
5. Are they really not responsible for damage to my personal property? If they enter my apartment without my permission (and against my wishes) how can they NOT be responsible for any damages to my property? It makes no sense to me that they can simply stick a piece of paper in my door and then come into my apartment the next day and break my stuff. Why not stick a notice on my door saying "not reasonable for missing items" and then just rob the place the next day?
6. What recourse do I have? Looking around the internet suggests that unauthorized entry into my apartment constitutes illegal trespassing and that my recourse is calling the cops and pressing charges. Is that true?

